Coffee is associated to weight loss because of the caffeine it has. But, there’s no solid proof that it can provide long-lasting or permanent results. In fact, there are different opinions and views about caffeine.
Some experts say that caffeine can help in preventing diabetes and other diseases like asthma (1). It can also treat headaches and reduce the risk of acquiring Parkinson’s disease.
Studies also revealed that coffee can cause a fast heart rate. It can block arteries and aggravate osteoporosis. If coffee can increase your craving for carbs, do you think it will help you lose weight? With this, it’s important to understand more about the effect of coffee and caffeine on losing weight.
Can Caffeine or Coffee Affect Weight Loss?
Studies have ruled out both the benefits and disadvantages of drinking coffee and ingesting caffeine.
In a way, intake of caffeine may prevent weight gain and boost weight loss, but still there’s no solid proof.
Caffeine is present in different beverages such as coffee, energy drinks, tea and colas. It’s also a staple ingredient in many dietary or weight loss supplements and even in medications.
Although there’s no definitive connection between caffeine and weight loss, but few theories show how it helps in losing weight.
How does caffeine help in losing weight?
Experts claim that drinking caffeinated beverages such as coffee can help in losing weight. Here’s how:
- Caffeine boost your metabolism
Taking in caffeine stimulates the process of lipolysis. It facilitates the release of free fatty acids throughout the bloodstream. Through lipolysis, your metabolism increases by up to 11% and eventually burn fat by up to 13% (2, 3, 4).
- It gives a dose of energy
Caffeine is a stimulant. That’s why drinking coffee gives a dose of energy. It also improves alertness and keeps away drowsiness, thus you can perform tasks. Aside from improving mental alertness, a shot of caffeine will also makes you energized to do physical tasks such as workout or exercise.
- It suppresses appetite
Although caffeine serves as an appetite suppressant, but it only works for a short time. Likewise, there’s no enough proof that long-term intake of caffeine can help weight loss.
- It stimulates thermogenesis
Caffeine has the ability to stimulate the body to generate energy and heat from the digested food. The process is called thermogenesis. But, it’s not enough to loss significant weight.
We know that coffee can contribute partly in losing weight. It makes sense determining how much caffeine an individual must consume. This can be tricky because different people show different reactions to caffeine.
Read: Does Green Coffee Bean Extract Work for Weight Loss
People who have been drinking a cup after a cup of coffee would experience little to no effect at all. Make sure that you’re not addicted to coffee if you want to try if it can help you lose weight.
It’s difficult to know how much caffeine you actually get. Coffee has more caffeine as compared to chocolate or tea. Various brands and roasts of coffee have different levels of caffeine. A cup of coffee apparently has 80 to 125 mg of caffeine.
Dangers of Coffee for Weight Loss
Coffee can help in losing weight. But, you must be careful as it can cause adverse effect and can hinder your goal to lose weight.
If you’re drinking commercial coffees, most likely it won’t help in your quest of losing weight. It’s because such coffee is packed with sugar, syrup and cream that adds on to the calorie content. This is also true if you’re getting caffeine from sugary or energy drinks.
Too much caffeine intake is also detrimental to your health. In fact, addiction to caffeine can make you feel alive in such a way that you may not feel tired. You should know that if you’ll not get enough rest it will make your vulnerable to illness.
You must not drink too much coffee because too much intake of caffeine can cause side effects. It may trigger anxiety, insomnia, irritability, nervousness, headaches and restlessness. Serious effects may also include cardiac arrest and arrhythmias.
Since caffeine has diuretic effect, frequent drinking of coffee can also cause dehydration. It’s recommended to drink plenty of water particularly when you engage in physical activities to replace the lost fluids in your body.
In Final Word
The caffeine content of coffee provides small benefits on weight loss. If you’re looking for the best ways to reduce unwanted pounds, you must consult first your health care provider. Knowing the adverse effects and dangers that caffeine poses to your health, it’s better to look for other options.
If you notice that drinking coffee is beneficial to you, then you can enjoy it as long as you’re taking it in moderation. There are many ways to lose weight such as following a diet program, doing workout or taking natural supplements. Whatever your choice of losing weight makes sure that it won’t put your health and life at risk.
Dietitian with around 5 years of experience in assessing the nutritional needs of patients, counselling individuals, communicating the appropriate nutritional information to other members of the health care team and implementing nutritional care plans by following all the standards.
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